


Glory days (they'll pass you by)

by Gilli_ann



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Quadruple Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 10:17:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3933049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilli_ann/pseuds/Gilli_ann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leon looks back to Camelot's golden age.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glory days (they'll pass you by)

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The characters and setting are the property of the BBC and Shine TV. I intend no copyright infringement and make no profit from this.

The sunlight slanting through the stained glass windows bathed the Great Hall in a golden haze. It obscured the features of the knights around the table. All Sir Leon could see was their blazing red cloaks, bright mail and gleaming hair. 

For a moment he was transported back in time: There in the warm glow was Lancelot, the bravest of them all, and the first to pass away. There were Elyan and Gwaine, somehow returned from beyond their graves, both of them radiant and grinning at him cheekily across the long years. Even Percival's big bulk seemed present at the other side of the table, although he'd left Camelot for an unknown fate many years ago. 

Leon shook his head, bewildered. He thought he could hear king Arthur's distinct and slightly mocking laughter from the throne, could see the glint in those royal blue eyes. And there - in the shadow of a stone column - he could just about discern a tall and gangly shape sporting Merlin's red neckerchief. 

Leon had been Uther's knight first. He'd watched Arthur grow from an untried prince into a great king, and had been proud to join Arthur's special band of knights. That had been a time of adventure and war, chivalry and quests. The knights' friendships were forged in fire. Forged for life.

He'd been the first, and now he was the last, - the only remaining knight of Arthur's Round Table. That knowledge was bittersweet and laced with grief. 

How soon those few years of glory had passed!

Outside, a cloud drifting across the sun extinguished the bright light. King Arthur and his bravest men all at once faded and dissolved into thin air. Leon blinked and looked around. Oh, the new knights of the Round Table were loyal and competent, but they were all of them ordinary men. They would work no wonders. Their deeds would never become the stuff of legends.

Leon sighed. He glanced at the queen and noticed her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. A look of perfect understanding passed between them. They treasured the same memories, shared the same sorrows for the brilliance that dimmed too soon; the king and his knights who died before their time and took Camelot's golden age with them when they left. 

But duty called them both, now as always. Leon rose at Guinevere's sign. He began presenting the plans for toll road improvements.


End file.
